In 2015, there has been a total of 101 police deaths in this country with 31 of them being gunfire and three being assault . Keeping that statistic in mind, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding racism in police departments and the deaths of black citizens. It is a fact that African-Americans are twice as likely to be killed by police than a white citizen even though whites make up 62 percent of this country’s population. There are many variables to consider when determining whether racism is embedded in these killings, but there have been an unnecessary amount of events where police commit what could be called racist acts. Ever since Michael Brown in Ferguson, there has been a spotlight on events surrounding the police and African Americans. Cities such as Baltimore, New York, and even McKinney in Texas have all been settings for events that show the roots of racism and police not doing their jobs correctly.
So, is there a war on police? Media networks such as Fox News (if you search their website) say yes because of “violent acts and statements” African Americans, including members of the Black Lives Matter movement, have said and done . But if you know about the movement, you should know that its goal is to eradicate institutional racism through peaceful means. The violence that occurs in the name of the movement is committed by radical sects that believe in violence. The media tends to blame Black Lives Matter whenever a black man kills an officer instead of the individual who is responsible. The media believes rallies of these radical sects containing members chanting anti-police remarks as the movement itself, but organized protests of the Black Lives Matter movement do not promote violence and instead are peaceful protests. The media attempts to drown viewers with images of violence created in the riots for African Americans such as Freddie Gray and Michael Brown. What the media does not show you is the peaceful protests that are occurring or the despicable statements some law enforcement officers have said about Black Lives Matter because the ideology is that cops are always in the right and we should never question that.
Before I continue, I must stress that I am not saying the lives of the police officers that have been killed do not matter. I do not believe in the murdering of officers -- I believe that these deaths are uncalled for. That being said, I believe there is no war on police because the amount of police deaths this year is the second lowest in decades, so police officers are actually in less danger than they have been in relation to past years. Yet in the past few years, there are more deaths at the hands of police at this point then there have been in recent years. I understand that many of these deaths can be considered as self-defense, but unless there is a threat to the officer, there is no need for violence. Remember, Eric Garner broke up a fight, Michael Brown was jaywalking, and the teens in McKinley were having a pool party, and I have yet to see the threat those officers were faced with in those situations.
With these 30 deaths of police officers, not all of them are race related, so the relation to race is dwindled down to below that number, just like not all the deaths of African Americans are race related. The media portrays African American rioting because it shows the officers who committed these indecent, violent acts as innocent, which leads into subtly keeping these racist thoughts in citizens’ heads. The stereotype of blacks is that they are the ones who commit crimes, and this is not true. When talking about Eric Garner’s unjust death, how can the response be, “But he illegally sold cigarettes?” I could write volumes about this topic, but the point is that I do not think there is a war on police, and through the use of racism by the media provides them the ability to portray African Americans as violent people. The media is one reason institutional racism is still prevalent in today’s society because it keeps those ideas in the minds of citizens. I am positive a good amount of us have showed our dislike towards law enforcement, so why should one race receive backlash for something that we all think?
